Bye-Bye Pretty Words
It's killing me.
I wrote this really beautiful, vivid first-person scene for this Shiny New Idea (see post below). I wrote a great first line.
And I realized, I think, that if I build the world as I want to, I have to GIVE THEM UP. My beautiful words. I may be able to work them into dialogue. May be able to convert them into third person. But I have to give them up as they are now to write the book in third person, to give a sweeping sense of the book, to do what is right for this book.
And it kills me.
Have you ever had to do that? Part with really great stuff? You know you have to, but damn.
I wrote this really beautiful, vivid first-person scene for this Shiny New Idea (see post below). I wrote a great first line.
And I realized, I think, that if I build the world as I want to, I have to GIVE THEM UP. My beautiful words. I may be able to work them into dialogue. May be able to convert them into third person. But I have to give them up as they are now to write the book in third person, to give a sweeping sense of the book, to do what is right for this book.
And it kills me.
Have you ever had to do that? Part with really great stuff? You know you have to, but damn.
posted by Erica Orloff at 5:51 PM
6 Comments:
Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.
--Samual Johnson
Yes, sometimes we must "murder our darlings," as one author put it. It's not easy, but it really is one of the differences between being a pro and an amateur.
Everything, every WORD, must either move the scene forward,
provide insight into the character, paint the character's world, or all of the above. ESPECIALLY in Act I, and ideally throughout.
It's easy to say, but very difficult to actually pull off.
A good reminder for me at the moment. Thanks, Erica.
Hey Jude:
It's killin' me, but BYE-BYE my lovelies.
E
Erica, you should be asking "Who hasn't had to cut some really great stuff?"
I don't find it difficult, because the story's better off for it. I mourn the loss of word count though--I write really short, and have to expand usually.
Hi May:
I guesss, for me, this one is also about the loss not of words, but a POV that won't work for the story--even though in that POV, the words are more poetic. :-(
E
Hi Erica,
You know, I read your blog everyday and, frankly, everything you write is absolutely beautiful--every post, every story! But I know what you mean about writing a line or a paragraph that you desperately want to build a world around, only to discover...it just works better when written differently. Sigh. It's not easy to kill off those darlings. Sorry you had to do that.
Michele
Hi Michele:
You are so kind. And thanks for the condolances. ;-) The thing is, I am working on the new thrid-person version. It's not quite as pretty . . . but it conveys the story better. Sigh.
E
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